So… my niece has just discovered the wonder that is Pepper Jelly on a cracker.

Mebbe with a slice of pear.

Just imagine, then how she is going to react to this repeat post of one of my all time top visited recipes…

Brie, sliced in half, slathered with pepper jelly in the center, then wrapped in crescent roll dough (y’know, from the market), and baked.

This pretty terrific way to start a party is actually fairly simple to toss together, too. You can usually buy pepper jelly at a well stocked market or gourmet shop; or, make your own. My recipe is here, and you can cheat just a bit and use sliced frozen peppers (Trader Joe’s usually has them for a good price) – then, you’re just mucking about with the jalapeños, which are no real trouble.

The original recipe, from the nice folk at Pillsbury, calls for wrapping the Brie in the entire packet of crescent doll dough, but I much prefer using half the dough and baking the rest as rolls to scoop up some of that luscious baked brie.

Open the crescent roll can and press half of the dough into a rectangle (form the other half of the dough into four rolls, arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet, mebbe with another can of crescent rolls, and bake according to package instructions.

I used a brie baker we’d picked up on special at a shop just after Christmas – an advantage to having a gathering just after the holidays – so used that; if you don’t have a Brie baker (a round, ceramic baking dish to hold the cheese), line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the squared out half of the dough in the center.

Cut the Brie in half through the center and set aside.

Arrange the dough in the baker, or in the center of the parchment lined baking pan, and place half the Brie, cut side up, in the center.

Spread with pepper jelly to cover, then place the second Brie half, cut side down, on top.

Fold the dough over the Brie, pressing to bring together in the center, then brush with the lightly beaten egg. You could get a bit fancy and gather the dough points into a kindofa crown flourish in the center in honor of Brie’s appellation as the “queen of cheese,” but I just kept it simple and trusted to the egg wash and warm oven to make some magic all by themselves.

Slightly crusty, golden brown dough filled with warm and rich, creamy cheese – and that surprise element of the pepper jelly in the middle – who needs fondu?

I served ours with crackers and a cheese knife for spreading; I did not have the foresight to think to bake a that half can of crescent rolls along with another can to serve warm with the Brie until I was editing the images and recipe for this post, bummer.

Broccoli and cole slaw are not two of my husband’s favorite things. Ermmm, unlsee the broccoli is served with a lot of melted cheese on top.

So…

when I came across a recipe for a marinated broccoli cole slaw, and served it to him, and he actually asked me to make it again…

One week later. Yeah, youbetcha I marked this recipe as a keeper!

It helps that it is wicked simple to toss together, now that most markets (around here, anyways) stock bagged shredded broccoli slaw in with the packaged salads in produce; just dice an onion, make the dressing, and you are good to go!

It was December, and I was starting to plan my holidaze menus – family coming up the weekend before, friends coming on The Day, and more friends over New Year’s Eve afternoon. I had the Food Network on, and Rachael Ray was doing a show on “Five Ingredient Dishes,” I think it was called.

The main course called out to me: pork tenderloin baked inside thawed frozen puff pastry that had been spread with mango chutney. Simple. Tasty ingredients. What could go wrong?

Nothing, as it happens.

This is elegant, moist, super tasty, and almost stoopidly simple to put together.

A note on puff pastry: even the barefoot contessa has said that “no one makes their own puff pastry,” so, go ahead, pick up a box or two in your market’s freezer case. And don’t worry about the whole “frozen” thing; you can be good to start working with your pastry in as little as two hours, straight from the freezer. See the thawing instructions on the package.

*Ms Ray used salt and black pepper to season hers. I made two tenderloins that way for Christmas dinner and we all loved it. The next time, just for Rich and I, I made one tenderloin and used some Créole seasoning that friends had brough back from Martinique, and it was lovely.

Just sayin’

Heat your oven to 400º.

Pour about 1/4 cup of good olive oil into a large pan over medium high heat.

Season all sides of the tenderloin with salt and pepper, or, if you have another interesting seasoning (such as my turmeric rich Créole seasoning) go ahead and use that instead.

Brown the tenderloin on all sides (mebbe three or four minutes per side) then remove from heat and set aside to rest.

Line a board and a baking pan with parchment paper (puff pastry can get a might sticky).

Run a knife through your jar of mango chutney, to break down any large pieces, then unfold the thawed puff pastry on your prepared work surface.

Note: Ms Ray suggested dividing the sheet in two and using it for two tenderloins, which I did, the first time. The second time, my tenderloin was a bit bigger, so I just used the whole sheet for one, and I think it all came together a little bit easier.

Spread the chutney over the pastry then place the tenderloin(s) in the center of the pastry (whole or half sheet).

Starting on the long side, roll the pastry up and over the tenderloin, pinching the two sides together to seal. Bring the ends up and over, also pinching to seal.

This double image was my first time working with puff pastry, and I may have let the dough get a bit warmer than I should, giving me these not so pretty pastry tubes.

Still tasted awesome.

Arrange the pastry wrapped tenderloins, seam side down, on your prepped baking sheet, then pop into the hot oven and bake until the pastry is deep golden brown.

25 minutes worked a treat for me.

Remove from the oven and let rest for ten minutes before slicing and serving.

For Christmas dinner, we had our tenderloin with Boxty, pickled avocado, tossed salad, and a pear galette.

For our mid week January dinner, the two of us enjoyed it with a marinated broccoli slaw.

We spent the week of Thanksgiving with my sister and her family, and one night for dinner, she had mentioned thinking of making a barefoot contessa recipe of potatoes coated with olive oil, then rolled in a salt and herb mixture and baked. My sister and I plan, a lot, when we have guests.

Nice! Flavorful, crispy crust.

The thing is, there was also this Whipped Feta cheese spread to go on the potatoes that also sound very, very good…

And I just happened to have a nice chunk of Bulgarian Feta, courtesy of our friend Mira, who swears it is the best Feta.

She is not wrong.

Saltier, creamier, and best stored in a brine, this is my fave Feta, and, Mira, if you’re reading this, I will be needing more.

I normally make a couple of batches of Limoncello to share at the holidaze; but this year, I came across a recipe from the book “From From a Polish Country House Kitchen” by Anne Applebaum & Danielle Crittenden for cherry infused vodka, and it put me in mind of a cocktail I enjoyed in New Orleans last fall.

So, this year, we’ve shared this lovely red spirit with friends and family instead.

And it was a keeper.

Wicked simple, too, which is always a good thing when it comes to holidaze preparations. I used frozen cherries, a bag each of red tart and dark sweet. You can stir in a tablespoon or two of sugar at the end, but I liked the bite of the vodka with the cherries.

INGREDIENTS
•1.5L vodka
•12 oz tart cherries
•12 oz sweet cherries

Cut the cherries in half and add to a large pitcher, then pour the vodka over and stir.

That. Is. It.

Cover the pitcher tightly and stash in a cool, dark place for at least one week (my first batch) – though it is better after two weeks (my second batch) to one month.

Note: at my husband’s suggestion, I added one whole vanilla seed to the cherries and vodka. I will post a Parfait! update when we sample it, probably at a gathering at friends’ later on this month.

When ready to decant, place a strainer over a large bowl and pour the vodka through.

Allow the cherries to sit for about an hour, dripping all the vodka and cherry goodness into the bowl.

You might could press on the cherries with the back of a spoon to press additional liquid out of the fruit.

As you can see, I got enough for a full bottle to give, a mostly full bottle to share at home, and, bonus!, vodka soaked cherry halves to use for…

Oh, and that NOLA cocktail? Two ounces of cherry vodka (or, gin, gin works, too), one ounce of Maraschino cherry juice, lemonade, and a bit of Sprite or ginger ale – or – sparkling water – all over ice.

These eggs were a hoooge hit over the holidaze, and lots of folk were asking for my recipe, so, here we are.

I should note that I used my own, home made pickle relish, and Sherry Peppers Sauce, which, long time readers will know, I put in just about everything I make; and which also gives these eggs just a bit of a kick. Feel free to swap out ingredients to suit your taste and your pantry.

This wicked simple (and wicked tasty) take on the corn on the cob you can get from street vendors here in Chicago (and, I am guessing, Mexico – hence the name) works perfectly as all of the above – on a plate with dinner, on a cracker, or just snarfed out of the fridge when you’re feeling, well…

peckish.

The original recipe, from Marcela Valladolid, called for cooking corn on the cob and then trimmings the kernels.

How much easier to buy a bag of frozen sweet corn, add the butter and seasonings, and ‘wave it?

Worked a treat, and this was a pretty popular side dish/salad/munchie around about these parts this holidaze season.

I came across this recipe as a side dish to a Food Network recipe for ham steaks with a chive sauce. Thing is, I like the side so very much more than the main course, even to including it in my Christmas feast menu, along side a tasty pineapple, honey, and brown sugar glazed ham.

Note: I wanted a blend of white and wild rice, so used a Near East blend.

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.

Stir the chive sauce together in a medium bowl, then stash in the fridge in a covered container until need.

Prepare the rice (or white and wild rice blend) according to package instructions, adding the Kosher salt and black pepper if you are not using a mix. Do add the unsalted butter and the Sherry Peppers Sauce (if you’re using) to the rice as you cook it.

Note: I used my rice cooker; the rice mix, seasoning packet, called for amount of liquid, plus one tablespoon each of unsalted butter and Sherry Peppers Sauce.

Allow the rice to cool completely, then toss in a bowl with the sliced asparagus spears.

Stir in the lemon juice and about half of the Chive Sauce (use more of the sauce if you’d like a creamier salad). Toss to blend well, then cover and stash in the fridge for a couple of hours 0r, always more better, overnight, to allow the rice to soak up the sauce and the flavors to blend.

This being the season for excess, I could not resist when my market had a special on free range, nothing added whole duck – “Ingredients: Duck.”

I do love me a bit of pan-fried duck, but the actual wrangling of getting the duck into pieces is kindofa pain, so, I thought I’d try leaving it whole.

And doing it in the pressure cooker. Thing is, I couldn’t find pressure cooker duck recipes.

So…

I consulted my chicken in a pressure cooker recipe and made a few, minor changes – mostly replacing the white wine with Cointreau, because, who does not like orange and duck? I also substituted almond flour for all purpose when thickening the sauce, making this recipe perfect for duck loving but gluten intolerant folk.

And the thing is – it worked a treat! I think that next time, I will bump up the pressure cooker time to 30 minutes, but, other than that, this recipe is a keeper.

No, this is not a recipe to “preserve” avocados by canning the suckers and stashing ’em on a shelf in your pantry.

This is, however, a wicked tasty way to add a big punch of flavor to your average avocado, and to make your (holidaze) cocktail spread all that much more festive and interesting; so, fergettabout the guacamole and let us pickle us a couple of avocados or four.

Yeh. I think at least mebbe three; but four could be good, too.

Note: these pickles need to rest in the fridge for at least six hours (or, always more better, overnight) before serving; and will last for about one week in the fridge.

Unless you eat them all at one sitting as I came close to doing with this jar.

And I am not a huge avocado fan. Trust me, these will be on my table this season.

Note: I used champagne vinegar, which I can get at my local markets for between $7 and $10 per jar. Feel free to use white vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or white balsamic vinegar.

Stir the vinegar together with the water, Kosher salt, and honey in a sauce pan – I added a few Tellicherry peppercorns, too – and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring until the salt has dissolved into the pickling liquid.